N7: Endurance
by SOLDIER-MS
Summary: With the final battle against Cerberus soon beginning, an N7 spec ops team must intercept Cerberus reinforcements coming out of the Terminus system. However the N7's are outnumbered and outgunned. But even with the war so bleak, the N7's will endure.


Disclaimer: I dont own Mass Effect

Hey everyone, I'm here with another Mass Effect oneshot, an N7 special ops fic like my N7: Evacuation story that tells the tale of an N7 team fighting Reaper forces, but this time its a different Shepard and a different war effort. This one is focused more on the prospect of hope and what it represents for the soldiers in what can be considered a hopeless situation.

There are no main characters in this fic, only OC's who kind of represent character models in the multiplayer models. This fic includes strong language and bloody images, so not for the faint hearted.

* * *

N7: Endurance

The Reaper war rages across the galaxy and Shepard and his team cant be everywhere at once. As it is well known there exists a special ops team known as N7. They are the greatest soldiers, mercenaries and biotics in the galaxy. While Shepard gathers an army it is the N7's that fight in every corner of the galaxy. They face the brunt of Reaper assaults, enduring waves of opponents, gathering data and shutting down devices used for indoctrination. While the teams are small and their efforts seem pointless they still fight on, holding the line no matter what. Like Shepard they are the galaxy's best hope of enduring the reaper threat. Live or die, the N7's will fight to the last if necessary.

Kyle Shepard is an Earthborn and the dreaded butcher of Torfan. But the man is very different from the legend. It was as if he changed because of the choice he made at Torfan. While he does kill criminals, he always seeks to help the innocent, and if there is a better way he will always seek it. His warnings of the Reaper's arrival have come true and the galaxy is now at war. This is the story of but one team of N7's, team 78, a team of N7's that stand at the halfway point between the Terminus systems and the rest of the galaxy. This is the story of how they held the line against a threat that didn't come from the Reapers.

"So I guess you got what you wanted huh?"

The question was blunt, to the point where he couldn't understand why it was being asked. He turned away from his console, looking at the young brown haired girl in mild interest. She was dressed in Kestrel armour, but while his consisted of black with red lights on the body and Recon hood; hers was the standard Alliance blue.

"You'll have to explain that statement," he said, his voice almost robotic in its reply.

"I heard that before you joined the military you were kicked out of a biotic training school because of a paper you published. You explained why going to war with the Terminus systems wouldn't be such a bad thing; I believe you summed it up as the Terminus being a cesspool of criminals and scum that aren't even worth mercy," she explained.

"Your words not mine," he shrugged.

"God damn it Magnus…"

"Lock it down you two, we don't have time to be fighting amongst ourselves," a Turian said as he approached the duo.

The Turian had grey skin and yellow facial markings. His armour was a grey colour with red lights highlights. Beside him stood an Asari with red commando armour.

"What news from the front?" the Turian asked the masked human.

The human Sentinel removed a data pad from his console and began tapping the buttons.

"Earth is facing the full brunt of the Reaper assault, London seems to be a base of operations. Prisoners are being sent there and…I suppose you could say teleported away, details are sketchy; I'd imagine Shepard knows more than we do. He's cured the Krogan Genophage and the Krogan are working with the Turians to defend Palaven. Your home world is fairing better than mine Torgas," the human explained.

"Yes, my thoughts are with Earth," Torgas, the Turian Sentinel said hesitantly.

"Kahje is rubble now, apparently the Hanar's defences were sabotaged, two Spectres tried to stop it but failed. Some Hanar families and their Drell servants have managed to escape though and there were a few million Hanar that weren't on their home planet at the time," the Sentinel continued, cycling through one report after another.

"There is still hope then that the Hanar will survive?" The Asari asked.

"Right now hope seems to be the only thing we have," Torgas sighed.

"I just received another report from the frontline, Shepard got Geth cooperation on Rannoch, but the Migrant fleet refused to make peace with the Geth. The whole fleet has been destroyed, down to the last life ship!"

"By the goddess," the Asari gasped.

"Shepard was out of action for a while, apparently they were grieving for a team member who killed herself, but he's reappeared on Thessia, only to run away again like he did on Earth."

"What about Thessia?"

"Burning, Reapers are hitting it faster than Earth, reports of the dead come in lists of millions, and refugee ships are captured in the tens of thousands. Reports say that these refugees are being converted into those Banshee creatures."

"All right that's enough, Drayna doesn't need to hear this," the human Adept said, placing a hand on the Asari's shoulder.

"No Laurie, please Magnus continue," The Asari said.

The Sentinel, Magnus turned to the Asari, the eyes of his Recon Hood glowing red.

"Asari colonies fall one after another, they also suffer the insult of being converted into those Banshees. But the Asari are spread out, they are surviving, as you should as well. Like the Hanar and the Quarians it is possible for your societies to rebuild, like it is for mine," Magnus explained.

"What hope is there for the Quarian's, the Migrant fleet was wiped out," Laurie said.

"One thousand nine hundred and sixty two Quarians still remain. That is enough for a species to survive, many are serving on the N7 teams, while others are on colony worlds or places like the Citadel. They will also most likely learn from their lesson and perhaps seek out a new home world, as opposed to war with the Geth again!"

"What makes you say that?" Drayna asked.

Magnus walked past his three-squad mates and looked up at the stars.

"One can hope Drayna, one can hope," he muttered.

The others stood there, slightly shocked by Magnus's words. He had a reputation for being unsociable, rarely talking to others and constantly wearing his recon hood. Drayna had recently transferred to the N7 team from her former posting on Illium. Now the Asari maiden found herself amongst eclipse mercenary forces, supported by three other N7 operatives. Likewise Torgas and Laurie had never worked outside of their species military before. Though Magnus moved amongst the eclipses mercs as if he belonged in a diverse crowd. There were many ridiculous rumours surrounding his real face, like he was a hybrid or a cyborg. Drayna personally found the rumour of him hiding burns on his face to be much more likely than the others.

Days had gone by and Drayna still had yet to fully adjust to her new life. Magnus would continue to provide reports of a bleak war effort. Yet he'd always just look at the stars, as if there wasn't any need to worry. Laurie was always nice to her though, always helping and supporting her. Drayna recalled a conversation they had about the war effort and the "Crucible project" that would supposedly stop the Reapers. But it seemed hard to believe that one device would wipe out the Reapers. Drayna knew that the war wouldn't be won that easily. The logical conclusion was that sacrifices would need to be made.

"Shepard's getting ready for a final assault against Cerberus, its about time those bastards got what was coming to them," Torgas said, eating the dextro rations that had been hauled in.

"Couldn't agree with you more Torgas, they were a disgrace to humanity," Laurie said.

Drayna lowered her head slightly. The Reapers were not only threat externally but internally as well. It wasn't just their ability to turn people into Husks, but Indoctrination too. Rana Thanoptis, once a respected Asari scientist had betrayed the Asari government because of indoctrination. Cerberus had taken a vital component to the Crucible project and had apparently tricked thousands of refugees into going to Sanctuary, a Cerberus station that was converting refugees into Husks. Yet Magnus continued to give off an air of optimism, despite handing damning reports he always spoke of a positive.

"Shepard lost a former squad mate at the base, but she apparently managed to slap a tracking device onto a Cerberus operative. Cerberus's days are numbered, an Alliance fleet is already moving to attack their base of operations. Which means soon we'll be launching our own attack to take back Earth. The final battle is beginning and Cerberus is but the first skirmish," Magnus explained.

"So this is it huh? We're finally returning to Earth?" Laurie asked.

"Yes, and whatever may come we'll fight to the last if necessary."

"Why?" Drayna asked, catching the attention of her three squad mates.

"Speak your mind Drayna," Torgas said.

Drayna sighed, rubbing her wrists.

"Thessia is in ruins, Palaven will never be the same, the Hanar and Quarian population hangs by a thread and despite all of our efforts the Reapers still remain vastly superior to our own collective military strengths. Am I to believe that we can claim victory in one final battle, in a grand charge to take back Earth? Even if we can fight the Reapers on even ground, galactic society will never be the same, then there's the crucible, what will it cost to use this weapon? I know you all have reason to hope, but I cant help but think that using the crucible will cost us something dearly," the young Asari explained.

Laurie and Torgas both remained silent, their faces betraying their own doubts. The Asari had bought up interesting facts. Billions of lives depended on the destruction of the Reapers. But people couldn't help but wonder, what choice would need to be made? What price would have to be paid for the destruction of the Reapers?

"Perhaps you are right Drayna, perhaps some sacrifice will need to be made. We don't know yet, but we will face the Reapers in battle all the same," Magnus said, walking away from his three squad mates.

Drayna watched the human leave, unsure of whether he was brave, or simply deluded. Another day passed and tensions were growing high. The base was on high alert because of reports that Cerberus forces were leaving Omega to support the main Cerberus base. Aria T'Loak had begun pulling out her mercenary forces, perhaps to take back Omega for herself. She had effectively abandoned the war effort against the Reapers for her own ambitions. But on a plus side Drayna found much better company amongst the small contingent of marines left by the Alliance. The Alliance ships were a much more welcome sight, and despite their reduced strength, Drayna had been happy for the first time in months. Laurie had been hanging out with her considerably. They had meals together, prepared their weapons together and even spoke of their childhoods before the Reapers.

"Ilium was once a beautiful city, I remember when I was but a child, my mother would walk me across the markets. We'd by skewers and then watch this beautiful sunset and no matter how many calls my mother would get, she'd never let go of me to answer them, the lectures she'd get from my father. He'd barely get a word in because he was wheezing so much," Drayna explained.

"Your father was a Volus?" Laurie asked.

"Yes, my mother met him during a business venture, eventually the marriage broke apart but both my parents respected one another enough to remain strong business partners and friends. My father actually gave my mother away when she remarried a Batarian. Goddess I miss them both, she was on Thessia when everything…"

Drayna leant against the railing overlooking the plains of the desert world they protected. She let the tears slip down her face, sniffing as she remembered Thessia. Laurie wrapped her arms around the Asari, hushing her cries.

"Its okay to cry Drayna, its okay to vent your feelings every now and again. This war has cost us so much, my own family was on Earth when everything happened, so I understand how you're feeling right now," Laurie said, rubbing Drayna's cheek with her left hand.

"There's no hope left is there?" Drayna asked.

"There's always hope Drayna!"

Laurie backed away in shock as Magnus walked between her and Dryna. His eyes remained fixed on the sky, looking at the Alliance ships.

"I once believed that my family would be safe from harm, my hope was misplaced. Yet it doesn't stop me from hoping again," Magnus lowered his head as he turned to Drayna and Laurie.

Torgas walked up to the trio, his arms crossed as he listened to every word Magnus spoke. There was little passion in his voice, yet the words he spoke struck them:

"Life finds a way, it has to find a way, so people hope for a better tomorrow. There are those that give into the logic, that abandon life for survival, or to live as long as they can and do what they want in their final moments. Their loved ones, or the memories of their loved ones comfort them. Then there are those that hope, that believe with every fibre of their being that they can survive, or that life won't end with them dead. They believe that life will go on, that everything good and worth believing in will succeed. You might ask yourself, why bother when everyone else before you has been proven wrong and destroyed? So I give you an answer," Magnus focused his eyes on Drayna, aiming his next words at the Asari.

"If there's no one left to love you and your memories only give you despair then hoping is worth it. Even if all the Mass relays are destroyed, somehow life will go on, we endure because if we don't, our hope falls apart. And a world without hope is a world where everyone might as well be dead. So don't give up hope Drayna, if you do then you're as empty as a Banshee!"

The three remained shell shocked by the Sentinel's words. Drayna and Laurie both walked away, thinking over what Magnus had told them. Torgas walked to Magnus's side, looking up at the sky as Magnus did.

"Did you really believe that Magnus, that hope is going help us endure?" the Turian asked.

"You all felt comforted by what I said, so it doesn't realty matter whether I believe it, question is do you?" Magnus turned to Torgas.

Torgas paused, his mandibles twitching slightly as he thought.

"Palaven was burning, my home town Nuka was particularly bad, I've got a son there who had just began training for the military. When I learnt about the attack I was ready to believe the worst, I mean a teenager against Reaper forces, that's impossible. But a few days ago I got an email from my son, he's serving in an N7 team and retaking Palaven, fighting alongside Krogan, Batarian and a human, four people that should hate each other are working together to protect my home world. More importantly however my son is alive. I believe in the words you spoke Magnus, the difference is I have both my loved ones and hope," Torgas explained.

Magnus nodded his head and looked up at the Alliance ship. He let out a sigh of content as he enjoyed the view. The sight wasn't the stars, but an alliance frigate was a good supplement, at least until he got back to space. All was quiet throughout the base, until an explosion replaced the alliance ship. Torgas widened his eyes as explosions rocked the passing alliance ship. Cerberus and Alliance fighters flew around the ship, the sounds of their cannons echoing through the camp. Several bombers then swooped over the camp, dropping bombs into tents and lines of alliance soldiers. Magnus activated his tech armour, protecting himself from the searing heat of the explosions, while Torgas ran through the camp.

"HEAVY WEAPONS! ANYONE WITH A HEAVY WEAPON SHOOT DOWN THOSE GUNSHIPS! SOMEONE GET ON THE RADIO AND CALL FOR BACKUP!" Torgas yelled.

An explosion suddenly knocked Torgas back, throwing several bodies onto him. Drayna and Laurie ran through the camp, watching as men tried to run out of the blast radius of a Cerberus bomb. But the blast caught several of them alight. Drayna couldn't help but cringe as she heard the agonising screams of the men and women she had lived with for the past few days. They weren't scum or criminals like the mercenaries, but real men and women doing their duty. Drayna took a step forward towards the burning men, only for Laurie to grab her shoulder.

"There's nothing we can do for them Drayna," Laurie said.

"I can try, I have to try," Drayna pushed Laurie off and ran for the soldiers.

She took a tent cover and wrapped it around one of the men. But the flames were so intense that it was melting his armour. His screams continued, even as Drayna rolled his body across the floor, trying to suffocate the flames. Laurie tackled Drayna to the ground, looking her in the eyes.

"Listen to me Drayna, you can't do anything for these people, we're only putting ourselves in danger by staying out in the open like this. We need to stay alive Drayna **you** need to stay alive," Laurie explained.

Laurie picked Drayna up off the ground, pulling her away from the dying. Meanwhile, Magnus ran into his tent, throwing crates aside as he looked for what he needed. He opened a steel case, revealing a blue and white gun. His fingers locked firmly around the weapon before he rushed back out of the tent. Magnus looked at the Cerberus bomber flying over the camp, destroying stockpiles of ammunition and supplies. He bought up a small targeting computer on the gun he carried and aimed at the bomber.

"Come on," he whispered. "Come back round for another pass, show me the front, show me…that's it!" he mused as the bomber flew towards his area.

Magnus locked onto the bombers cockpit and fired his missile launcher. The rocket flew true, striking the front of the bomber, blowing the cockpit open. The Cerberus pilot screamed as he lost control of the fighter craft, swooping over Magnus and slamming into the formation of rocks overlooking the camp. Throwing the empty launcher aside, Magnus looked at the damage that had already been done to the camp. Many of the soldiers were already dead, if not seriously wounded. The alliance frigate was holding out, but only barely. Cerberus had come in full force to eliminate a single platoon.

"TORGAS! DRAYNA!" Magnus yelled, calling out to the people he was familiar with.

"MAGNUS! OVER HERE!"

Magnus ran around a destroyed Mako, seeing Torgas kneeling by a wounded soldier. The Turian had his omni-tool out, applying medigel to the man's burns. Torgas tapped more buttons on his tool, applying another dose of gel to a soldier with a burn across his face. His eyes then fell upon a third man; pieces of shrapnel had pierced the man's leg.

"Oh fuck, it hurts so fucking much, you can do something right?" The soldier asked.

Torgas lowered his head, his teeth grinding together.

"Magnus, I need your Omni-blade," Torgas sighed.

Magnus nodded his head, activating his omni-blade as he knelt down beside the maimed soldier.

"If we don't do this the wound will become infected and the fever will kill you," Torgas said, noticing the young man's hesitation.

"FUCK!" he yelled. "JUST MAKE IT QUICK DAMN IT!"

The young man screamed as Magnus cut into his leg, severing it from the knee downwards. Torgas then applied a small amount of heat with his incineration tech, cauterising the wound. As he did this, he allowed the human to squeeze his hand, nearly crushing the bones in his fingers. Finally the medical procedure was over and the marine fell unconscious from the experience. Torgas sighed as he sat back, while Magnus pulled the dog tags off of the dead ones.

"We need to move the wounded to a safer location," Torgas said.

"There's a cave just by the edge of the camp, they should be sheltered from the sight of Cerberus bombers at least," Magnus explained.

Magnus's form glowed as he used his biotics, picking several wounded up off the ground. He carefully walked backwards, guiding the injured to the caving system. Torgas picked a Vindicator rifle up off the ground, ejecting a near empty thermal clip. He then focused his attention on Drayna and Laurie. The human adept supported Drayna, who looked as if she would pass out at any second.

"Is there anything left we can use to call for extraction?" Laurie asked.

"You think we're going to get extracted through that?" Torgas motioned to the battle going on over their heads.

"What reason is there for us to stay here? I'll tell you, none, we can't hold the line here, there's nothing left to protect!" Laurie pointed at the bodies and the ruined scenery around them.

The camp was decimated and the only able-bodied soldiers left on the field were four N7 operatives.

"We need to find a radio and call in for an extraction," Laurie said.

"If we find a radio we call for reinforcements, we aren't going to run away and let Cerberus's Terminus fleet into the sol system," Torgas explained.

"Four of us against a whole fucking army, how are we supposed to beat that?" Laurie asked.

"The defences of the Terminus have to hold, if they don't then the crucible and Shepard's fleet will be at risk of a Cerberus attack," Torgas said.

"So we just stay here and die, without even going back to Earth? I can do that, I WONT DO THAT!" Laurie yelled.

"ENOUGH!"

The arguing duo looked to Drayna, whose eyes gave off an ominous glow.

"We couldn't save the dead, but we can at least hold the line until reinforcements get here," she said, her voice firm and more determined than it had ever been.

"Drayna's right, we need to endure and hold out just long enough until help comes," Magnus said, walking over to the group.

Laurie sighed as she stepped back, running a hand over her hair.

"What if help doesn't come?" she asked.

"Then we face Cerberus in battle all the same," Torgas said.

"They attacked the Citadel, betrayed their own species and have caused countless death and suffering. More importantly they are being used by the Reapers and they don't even see that they have sacrificed everything that made them human…no, everything that made them alive," Drayna explained.

"Are you going to let them get away with that Laurie? Or are you going to stand and fight them and show them exactly what being human really is?" Magnus asked.

Laurie squeezed her hand into a fist as she walked over to a fallen alliance soldier. She took the man's shotgun and assault rifle, nodding to her other teammates.

"We can only hope right? Stay with me Drayna, I'll help you through this," she said.

The Asari smiled, drawing and cocking the Arc pistol she held.

"Don't worry, I'll help you too," Drayna said as a biotic barrier surrounded her body.

"CERBERUS DROPSHIP INCOMING!" Targos yelled.

Magnus looked at the path ahead, seeing that that was the intended drop point for the Cerberus troops. His eyes immediately fell to an inactive proximity mine on the floor. He immediately picked the mine up and focused more power into his tech armour.

"COVER ME!" he yelled.

Magnus broke off into a run, straight past his three team mates. Torgas ducked behind cover and looked down the sight of his rifle. He focused his attention on Magnus's intended target. It was a spot the Cerberus troopers would have to walk down to get to him. Magnus slid for cover as Cerberus troopers began dropping out of the Kodiak shuttle above. Cerberus assault troopers aimed their guns at Magnus as he prepped the mine from cover. Drawing his hand cannon, Magnus shot one trooper in the head, provoking them into attacking. Rounds struck his tech armour from behind as he ran back to the squad.

"Provide covering fire, on my mark NOW!"

Torgas fired the first shot, with Laurie and Drayna quickly following. Their shots weren't intended to kill, just catch their attention. Magnus jumped over a rock, using it as cover as he activated his Omni-blade. He looked to the mine as several troopers walked past it. Magnus glowed blue as he popped out of cover, launching a biotic throw. He sent one assault trooper flying into another, the two of them rolling into the trigger area of the mine. The mine suddenly exploded, throwing more Cerberus troopers back and letting out a cloud of smoke. Laurie ran from her cover, throwing a singularity into the smoke. She heard several assault troopers screaming as they were lifted into the air.

"Deploying warp field," Magnus said, throwing a warp into the singularity.

The resulting biotic explosion threw the Cerberus troops back, breaking off their line and shaking their resolve. Torgas fired several more shots from his rifle, picking off the remaining troopers.

"Strengthen the line, Drayna, Laurie, you two protect our left flank, they wont use this narrow corner as an attack point again, Magnus, you move to our right and draw their fire, give me a chance to flank them!" Torgas explained as two more Kodiak shuttles approached the camp.

Laurie and Drayna moved to the left side of the camp, watching as several assault troopers, accompanied by Centurions approached. The Centurions deployed smoke grenades, covering their attack. Drayna let out a nervous breath before popping out of cover, she fired her arc pistol, electrocuting an assault troopers head. As the troopers head blew up, the pulse passed to a Centurion, blowing out his shield. Drayna then threw the Centurion back and rolled for cover as assault troopers fired at her. She lifted two troopers into the air, then threw a warp field, hitting a Centurion in the chest. Laurie ran into the Cerberus ranks, throwing a singularity and blowing the head off of a Centurion. Four Cerberus troopers were lifted off the ground, giving Laurie the opportunity to get in close to a Centurion. She yelled as she biotically punched the man in the chest, slamming him into the wall. Then she blew the man's head off with her shotgun.

"LAURIE LOOK OUT!" Drayna yelled.

The adept didn't even notice the Cerberus engineer setting up a turret. A weight slammed into Laurie's side, knocking her to cover as the Cerberus turret fired.

"Drayna," Laurie gasped at the sight of the Asari beside her.

"We help each other right Laurie, that's what friends to, they hope for one another and endure together right?" Drayna asked.

"Right," Laurie smiled.

"We're pinned down, any suggestions?"

"I'll draw the turrets fire and hopefully take out the engineer, you take out that turret's shields with your pistol and then hit it with a warp field," Laurie said.

"Okay," Drayna nodded her head.

Laurie took a deep breath before running out of cover. Her barrier took a punishing assault from the Cerberus turret; it wasn't enough to protect her. A bullet clipped her arm, forcing her to drop her shotgun. Before falling into cover, Laurie managed to launch a shockwave that knocked the engineer back. Drayna then jumped over her cover, firing her arc pistol and knocking out the turret's shields. Then she threw a warp, weakening the turret. Her barriers held as she rolled to Laurie's shotgun. Picking it up with her free hand, Drayna fired a shot than blew the turret up.

"Laurie are you okay?" Drayna asked.

"My arm got shot, its nothing medigel cant fix up…shit I don't have any," Laurie slammed her other hand into the ground.

"Here use mine, it should be enough to treat the wound," Drayna said.

"Thanks…DRAYNA LOOK OUT!"

Laurie pushed Drayna aside, taking a shot to the chest. The Cerberus engineer was still standing, trailing the laser of his pistol over Laurie's exposed head. Drayna let out a scream before wrapping a field around the engineer. He screamed as his bones shattered, his body compressing together inside the field. Drayna knelt by Laurie's side, looking at the gunshot wound in horror.

"My medi-gel, take it, it'll delay the bleeding," Drayna covered the wound with medi-gel, her own tears mixing in with the blood on Laurie's chest.

"Freeze!"

Drayna bought her hands to her eyes as several troopers surrounded her. Torgas and Magnus both held their lines just as well. Magnus and Torgas both fired into ranks of Cerberus troopers with their rifles. Torgas overloaded a Cerberus turret, blowing it and the engineer up before it could activate. Magnus reloaded his Mattock and threw a warp field into a Centurion. Then he pelted the trooper with bullets until he went down. Torgas and Magnus both stopped firing as they heard a crashing sound, followed by metallic footsteps.

"ATLAS!" Magnus yelled.

"Forget the Atlas, get down Magnus," Torgas said, pushing Magnus back.

The Turian turned his rifle to his next opponent. A Cerberus phantom suddenly appeared in front of him, stabbing her sword straight through his chest. Torgas spat a blob of blood into the phantom's face. He growled as he gripped the blade, activating his omni-blade.

"Lets see how you like it," Torgas growled, stabbing the woman in the chest.

He pushed her to the ground and turned to the approaching Atlas mech. Torgas dropped to the floor as the Atlas mech fired its missile. The missile flew over the Turian, who was slowly crawling out of cover, gripping the Phantom's sword. Magnus shot two assault troopers that approached him and then looked to Torgas.

"Use it," the Turian said weakly, sliding the phantom's sword towards Magnus's feet.

Magnus picked the blade up off the floor and looked at the Atlas mech. Torgas gathered his strength and aimed an overload at the mech's leg, causing it to stumble to one "knee". Magnus then broke off into a run jumping at the mech. He stabbed the blade through the shield, piercing the cockpit and stabbing the pilot inside. The pilot gathered enough strength to activate the Mech's self-destruct system.

"GET OUT OF THERE MAGNUS NOW!" Torgas yelled.

Magnus let go of the blade and ran as fast as he could the other way. The explosion threw him forwards, head first into the wall. Magnus could only hear his breathing as his whole world darkened.

When the Sentinel regained consciousness, he saw a sight that made his heart skip a beat. Cerberus troopers had overrun the base; he was surrounded, held to his knees by two Centurions. But he wasn't the only one; the wounded had been dragged out of the cave and were forced awake. A Cerberus commander, his reaper tech-modified face revealed walked amongst the gathered prisoners. The alliance ship was still fighting, but the fighter squadrons were effectively dominating it, it wouldn't last long. Torgas was on his knees, with two phantoms holding their swords to his neck. Drayna was kneeling by Laurie's side, one engineer holding a gun to her head.

"We've taken the enemy camp…what do you mean the fleet is still enduring? They should have been wiped out by now…very well, we will make examples of the traitors here," the commander said.

He deactivated his comm. device and turned to Magnus, looking between him and Laurie in disgust.

"You allowed yourselves to work with aliens, disgusting, Cerberus would have welcomed you. But instead you choose to hold us back, denying humanity its rightful place in society," the commander explained.

He raised his pistol, pressing it against Magnus's helmeted face. The glass of his right eye shield had cracked, revealing a cold blue eye glaring at the Cerberus commander.

"You actually thought you could hold this position, that useless hope is precisely why we will lose. Only the Illusive man has the integrity and intelligence to make the tough choices, Shepard proved himself incapable when he destroyed the Collector base and got half his team killed. Humanity needs someone who will ensure that it reaches its full potential, soon we will have achieved that dream by dominating the reapers!" The commander explained.

"BAH!"

Everyone focused his or her attention on Torgas as he glared at the commander.

"Improved? Your not improved, you're a fucking monster and you don't even realise it, how fucking sad it is that you've sacrificed everything that's made you human. Traitors? The only traitors I see are the ones with reaper tech in them, the idiots that are ONE GIANT FUCKING CONTRADICTION! Save humanity my ass, damn you and your illusive man, your all traitors to every creature that's alive," Torgas explained.

"Very smart, to insult the people who can decide how quickly you die," the commander grinned, kicking Torgas across the head.

Drayna closed her eyes, watching the human kick Torgas again. Magnus struggled against the people holding him, rising to his feet. Then kicked him back to his knees, laughing as the commander smashed Torgas across the head with his pistol. Torgas spat his blood onto the commander's feet, getting up off the floor.

"You gave up and gave in to the Reapers, we wont, that's why we'll succeed, no matter what sacrifice, no matter how bad things get, we the living will endure!"

Torgas looked between Drayna and Magnus, focusing his eyes mainly on the Asari.

"Don't give…"

A gunshot echoed through the air and silenced Torgas's last words.

"NOOOO!" Drayna screamed.

Magnus lowered his head slightly, closing his eyes as he sighed.

"We wont my friend, we wont give up," he whispered.

His gaze hardened as the commander aimed the pistol at him.

"Never give up," Magnus whispered to Drayna.

The commander's fingers closed around the trigger. Suddenly, the Cerberus cruiser attacked the alliance frigate blew up. Several objects crashed into the ground as ships flew out of the clouds.

"GETH!" the commander yelled.

Geth troopers dropped to the ground, firing their pulse rifles at the assault troopers. A Geth hunter appeared behind the engineer holding Drayna. The Geth stabbed the human in the chest and gave Drayna the distraction she needed to throw the other troopers away.

"MEDIC!" she yelled.

"I am here to assist, all geth platforms protect wounded and secure area," the hunter said, kneeling by Laurie's side and applying medigel to her wounds.

Magnus activated his tech armour and immediately blew the armour up, knocking the people holding him back. He then moved forward, punching the commander across the face. All hell broke loose as Cerberus fighters were overrun by Geth and pirate shuttles. Several Kodiak shuttles, both from the alliance and independent forces began shooting down the Cerberus drop ships. Remarkably eclipse mercenaries dropped from the independent shuttles, shooting at the Cerberus forces.

"Eclipse, but I thought they left with Aria to retake Omega," Drayna said.

"True, but some of us decided to…fuck Aria's orders," a Salarian eclipse engineer said.

"We need to fight the Reapers not reclaim Aria's "kingdom"," an Asari vanguard said.

Drayna wiped a tear from her eye and smiled. She had hoped that people would come together and overcome the sins of greed, ambition and selfishness. That hope came true as Magnus said hopes could. Above all that, Drayna hoped that her friend would get better. Picking a pistol up off the ground, Drayna hardened her expression and ran with the other soldiers, firing into the remaining Cerberus troops. Magnus however fought his own battle, throwing two assault troopers off the cliff as he closed in on the commander. He ducked underneath the man's haymaker and activated his omni-blade.

"Two can play at this game," the commander said, activating his own omni-blade.

They slammed their blades together, pushing against one another as their biotics glowed. Magnus knocked the pistol out of the commander's hand and thrust his blade towards the man's cheek. The commander barely dodged the blade and kneed Magnus in the chest. Taking the blow, Magnus then delivered a solid left hook to the commander's face. The two phantoms that held down Torgas then ran at Magnus, swinging their swords at him. He rolled to the side, underneath one phantom's sword. Then he biotically threw the woman away, blocking the other's sword with his omni-blade. The commander ran up behind Magnus, only for the sentinel to elbow him in the cheek. Magnus then swung around, slashing the phantom across the chest. He quickly turned and stabbed his omni-blade through the palm of the commander's hand.

"AAAAAAAAGH!" the commander screamed like a wild animal as Magnus cut his right hand into ribbons.

Magnus turned just as the second phantom thrust her sword forward. He used the gauntlet of his left hand to shatter the sword, then grab the blade and stab it through the side of the woman's head. With a final swing, Magnus stabbed his blade straight into the screaming commander's mouth.

"That was for Torgas," Magnus huffed, exhaustion reflected in his eyes as his hate for the dead man faded.

The Cerberus forces were mopped up by the allied reinforcements. Reports came in that Aria only had a quarter of the merc forces at her side. She didn't have the same level of authority as she had before. The remaining mercenary forces stated that they would serve Shepard, not the self proclaimed queen of Omega. With the threat of Cerberus reinforcements eliminated, all N7 ops in the Terminus were to be called off. The final battle for Earth would begin and all hands were needed for the assault. Drayna looked at the place she had called home for a short time. The Geth were now providing the maimed with cybernetic replacements for their lost limbs, ensuring that they could fight another day. Laurie was fortunate enough to make a full recovery. She, Drayna and Magnus stood at the body bag that contained Torgas's corpse.

"He was a good man," Magnus whispered.

"Yes, an honourable Turian worthy of his command, and he never gave in," Drayna sighed.

Laurie patted Drayna's back while Magnus saluted the dead Turian. He zipped the body bag closed, turning his back to the two women.

"Magnus, Torgas once asked you if you really believed in hope, what was your real answer?" Drayna asked.

Magnus paused, still keeping his back to his teammates as he answered:

"I do believe Drayna, I have hope that while many may die, in the end life will find a way, life will endure!"

He lazily saluted the two women before walking to the shuttle. Drayna let out a sigh of relief as she looked up at the stars.

"Thank you Magnus, and thank you Laurie, for taking care of me and believing in me," she said.

"That's what friends are for Drayna," Laurie said.

"Friends? I hope we can be a lot more someday," Drayna smiled as she walked past Laurie.

Laurie widened her eyes for a moment before smiling and following the Asari she had come to love. Days later they joined in a battle consisting of the largest multi-species fleet in the galaxy. Though they eventually became trapped in the Sol system, the millions of aliens worked and lived together on a new home. They made their hopes a reality.

In the end life endures!

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed the one-shot, it may have seemed bleak but I like to put as much hope as i can in my fics. Anyway this isnt the end, I'll probably do more N7 ops fics, some of them with the same characters, others with different teams and some with the same or different Shepards

Tell me what you thought of the fic please


End file.
